870 recoil pad choice.

[Athanasius]

I recently picked up a 12 ga. 870 exp mag for $210. Not the best deal but it's the gun I wanted and it was in town. after a couple boxes of trap / bird load I'm considering a bit more recoil management.... along with going back to the wingmaster 20 for clay shooting.

QUESTION: What are your experiences with different butt pads and how difficult will it be to make the swap myself? I'm willing to pay a little more for better quality but I don't want to pay more that the gun is worth for .25 lb / in recoil.

Thanks for your input. I'm really enjoying being a member of this forum.

 

[DaleCooper51]

I use a prefit limbsaver pad on my 870 and it does the trick for me. It was a matter of two screws to install and took a whopping 5 minutes.

Here's a link.
http://www.limbsaver.com/products/Firearms/prec.php

Kickeez and Pachmayr are two other good pads. The new pad from Remington is supposed to be good also, but I don't have any first hand experience with them.

 

[chas08]

Limbsaver or Pachmayer Decelerator would both be good choices, I own both and really can't tell which one is superior. If your gunstock is synthetic, you can buy "off the shelf" prefitted pads and it's as simple as removing and replacing two screws. Wood gunstocks can be another matter and require fitting or grinding the pad to fit the contour of the wood. This should be done by a qualified professional IMHO. The gunsmith I use charges $80 to do this and that includes the pad. I don't know if that is a reasonable price or not "good" gunsmiths are few and far between where I live and his work is excellent.

 

[Athanasius]

Does the laminate stock classify as synthetic or wood?

it's not a block of wood but it's still "wood"... basically will every laminate stock be the same and do they differ from the synthetic stocks.

 

[DaleCooper51]

The laminate would be a wood stock. The prefit limbsaver that I use was made for wood stocks and fits reasonably well. If in doubt, give the company a call.

 

[Leadhead]

Remington's new pad is reported to be good and is a little cheaper then a Limbsaver.

 

[Athanasius]

I have a bass pro up the road. think I'll go get this this week. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_101885____SearchResults

 

[Taurus44]

That Supercell pad is the best thing going for an 870! I just put one on my 11.5" SBS and it makes a world of difference.

 

[Virginian]

The new Supercell pad is great, but I have yet to see one that fit all that good on a wood stock, regardless of what they say. I am wondering what the heck they used for the model.

 

[Athanasius]

I didn't buy the gun because I'm worried about actetics as long as it fits me well i'm not worried about 1/64th overlap. the laminate stocks all have a little overlap at the receiver anyway

 

[dasanii19]

Remington Supercell!!

 

[45crittergitter]

+1 for the Limbsaver/Remington R3. I haven't tried the Supercell yet.

 

[Gord]

I don't have anything to compare it to, but the Supercell has made a world of difference for me with slugs and 3" 00 buck. As others have noted, though, the fit is sloppy on a wood stock; I've got about an eighth of an inch of overhang on the top and bottom of mine, and it's off-center to the left by about a sixteenth.

 

[Shrinkmd]

How about on a synthetic 870 Express?

I remember reading somewhere (or not) that the Supercell pad did not fit well or at all on the 870 Express synthetic stock.

So, does it or doesn't it? I'm putting together a MidwayUSA order and thinking about adding it in.

Thanks

 

[Virginian]

I talked to a guy I know today and he said the Supercell fit his laminated stock model fine. Maybe that's what they fitted it to.

 

[forrestd]

There are two models of the SuperCell recoil pad. One is for synthetic stocks and the other is for wood stocks.

 

[rodregier]

+1 for the R3 on a synthetic stocked 870 Express.

 

[sbarkowski]

Supercell

I have a newer 870 synthetic the one that comes with the newer forearm design (forearm covers the loading port when the action is open.) Came with the regular hard rubber pad which wasnt too bad but made its presence known after 200 straight rounds of 2.75 7.5's. I replaced it with the Supercell and I can go through box after box of 3" duck loads without having to pay for it the next day. It fit perfectly on the synthetic stock, better than the orginal actually. It also looks much better being textured with the raised "Remington" logo on both sides. I was impressed! In fact I purchased one for my 700 .30-06 to replace the R3 that was on it. It has the laminate thumbhole stock and it also was a perfect fit. They make 4 different types, 2 for rifle (wood or synthetic) and 2 for shotguns as far as i know. Much cheaper than the R3 ($19.99 here in Ontario Can.) and in my opinion much better at softening the recoil. Sorry for digging up an old post but I'm new here, thought I'd throw in a contribution.